An analysis of the current and forecasted ecological risk related to the presence of microplastics on the Romanian Black Sea coast
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In the last decade there has been a growing concern about the presence of microplastics in the marine environment. There is an urgent need to assess the impact of microplastics on the environment and, implicitly, on the human population. To causally correlate and clarify the harmful effects of this type of pollution, it is essential to first quantify the amount of microplastics present in the environment. More than 1,000,000 tourists visit Romanian Black Sea resorts during the summer season and this number increases every year, posing additional pressure on the marine environment. On the other hand, the medical crisis caused by the COVID-19 -19 pandemic and the war that started in 2022 also affected the level of pollution in the region. The assessment carried out will serve as a reference point for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as of the current political crisis. This paper presents abundances and classes of microplastics, according to their morphological properties (shape, size, color) and polymer types, recorded in samples collected from 20 Romanian resorts from the Black Sea coast. A total of 2539 microplastics were identified in samples collected along the 82 km of coastline studied, with densities ranging from 122 to 536 MPs kg-1, most of them larger than 1000 µm and in the form of blue fibers. The most common type of polymer was medium density polyethylene (MDPE), followed by thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), with the same percentage. Given our predictions of a sharp increase in environmental risk in the near and medium future, solid waste reduction and management should be improved as quickly as possible.
Source: Heliyon
Institution: Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
Language: English
Subfield: Pollution
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,270
OpenAlex ID: W4416807022